Author Description

Coomaraswamy's contribution to the history of architecture in India was limited but profound. In particular, his probing analysis of texts and sculpted reliefs in order to reconstruct the extraordinary architecture of early India was an act of great scholarship. This volume for the first time brings together four major essays along with Coomaraswamy's analysis of "Indian Architectural Terms." An introductory essay by Michael W. Meister on "The Language and Process of Early Indian Architecture" connects Coomaraswamy's foundational essays with more recent scholarship on the origination of India's vast tradition of temple architecture. An afterword by Joseph Rykwert on "Adam's House and Hermit Huts" presents the view of a major Western architectural historian.